Oct 29, 2026 Mittens and Boots: From Outdoor Visitors to Family

Mittens, the older of the two outdoor cats, first announced her presence by looking through the window of my friend’s house. My friend, Laura Collins, sent me the photo of Mittens, and we decided to start feeding the cat.

We started on Laura’s porch, but gradually moved the feeding into her garage for safety. Laura left her garage door open just enough for an animal the size of a cat to get under. During the winter months, we put the food and water in heated bowls because the Berkshires in western Massachusetts, where we live, can get very cold. We also bought plug-in heating pads, self-warming heating pads, toys and beds.

Soon, Mittens started bringing a much younger cat, whom we called Boots and who looked very similar. We assumed Boots was a daughter.

After a while, some possums started entering the garage as well. The experts at Community Cats, part of the Berkshire Humane Society that works with outdoor cats, advised us to move the food onto tables. The cats could jump up, but the possums couldn’t. We did that, and the possums stopped coming. A few owned cats also visited. However, Mittens and Boots were prepared to share.

Mittens and Boots never stayed more than four or five hours at night. Laura has cameras in her garage so that we can track their comings and goings. We thought they sheltered in a group of plastic boxes filled with straw that Community Cats managed. But they came to the garage every evening to eat and play.

After a year or more, two of my cats died. My remaining elderly cat, Snowi, and I grieved. Then, after a few months, I thought, why not try to bring Mittens and Boots into my condominium to save them from another winter, predators and cars, and to provide Snowi with some cat companions?

Laura and I contacted Community Cats. They put out traps with food in the garage and quite quickly trapped Mittens. They took Mittens to my veterinarian and then brought the cat to my condominium, where Mittens hid under the bed in the guest room.

We had assumed that Mittens was Boots’ mother, and I had told the vet that she was already spayed since she had not had another litter. But when the vet called back after treating Mittens, she was laughing. The reason Mittens had not had another litter was that Mittens was a male and the father, not the mother.

Luckily, Community Cats was able to trap Boots the next night and take her to my vet the following morning. The two were reunited that afternoon. They both hid under the bed in the guest room, but came out at night to eat the food I put out for them.

It also turned out that Mittens was not purely feral. He knew about litter boxes and started using the ones I put in the guest room right away. Boots peed on pads for a few days, but Mittens must have provided an example for her because, within a couple of days, Boots started using the litter boxes as well.

I had put up a kitty gate across the door to their room, hoping they would get together with Snowi and talk through it. However, Community Cats advised me to take down the gate. Sure enough, after a few days, the two cats started exploring the rest of the apartment. After a couple of months, they were coming out regularly, and after seven months, they were even eating in the living room and dining room area.

A few months later, they started spending time with Snowi and me on my bed.

Now they always sleep on the bed, and Boots has adopted Snowi as her mom, which I think Snowi likes. So Boots has a very young dad and an elderly mom.

I think several factors helped make the transition happen so quickly and completely, especially for Boots, who was purely feral. Her dad, Mittens, was not completely feral and must once have been an outdoor cat who belonged to someone. The fact that Snowi welcomed them, while still making it clear that she is in charge, also helped them settle in.

Bottom line, I would have been pleased with the situation even if they had not fully adapted, just knowing that they were safe and warm, with plenty of food available all day. But the fact that Mittens and Boots have become part of the Sullivan family is wonderful.

 Jennifer Sullivan is a WBI Global Ambassador.